The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has announced it will close its offices in Russia.
After 20 years of working in Russia, USAID officials said they were informed by the Russian government that their services were no longer required.
According to the Foreign Ministry, USAID was attempting to manipulate the election processes in the country.
â€œThe character of the agency's workâ€¦did not always comply with the declared aims of cooperation in bilateral humanitarian cooperation,â€ the Foreign Ministry said on its website. â€œWe are talking about issuing grants in an attempt to affect the course of the political processes in the country, including elections at different levels and institutions in civil society."
Russian civil society has become fully mature, the Foreign Ministry said, and did not need any "external direction." Moscow is read to work with USAID in third-party countries, it said.
In an interview to Kommersant, Dmitry Peskov, President Putinâ€™s press-secretary, suggested that the US agency was not abiding by the rules regulating their work with NGOs.
â€œAs all foreign agencies that provide financial support for Russian NGOs, USAID should abide by Russia's legal regulations,â€ Peskov said. â€œAs long as the Americans abide by these norms, we obviously couldn't make a decision to terminate their activities on Russian territory.â€
Moscowâ€˜s decision to halt USAID programs comes after Putin in July signed legislation that requires nongovernmental organizations that receive funds from abroad to register as "foreign agents."
The law requires that Russian-based NGOs provide information as to how funds received from abroad are being used in Russia.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has announced it will close its offices in Russia following an order from the authorities there to cease operations.

The Russian government gave the US until 1 October to close the mission, accusing it of meddling in politics.

USAID has worked in Russia for two decades, spending nearly $3bn (Â£1.8bn) on aid and democratic programmes.

The expulsion follows a government crackdown on pro-democracy groups.

"The decision was taken mainly because the work of the agency's officials far from always responded to the stated goals of development and humanitarian cooperation. We are talking about attempts to influence political processes through its grants," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Somehow, a Kicking season is on for Americans. Only that they're the ones getting kicked everywhere.
Whats more, they are the ones with longest and deepest tentacles around and hence we see these global fireworks.
I think quite conforming to his character, Putin said "enough" to it and this is a part of the consequences.

Russians obviously have more sense than our GOI. India also should tighten rules on foreign governments running aid/development programs and interfering in politics etc on the sly. Russia recently banned foreign NGOs recently also for acting as agents of external entities.

Russians obviously have more sense than our GOI. India also should tighten rules on foreign governments running aid/development programs and interfering in politics etc on the sly. Russia recently banned foreign NGOs recently also for acting as agents of external entities.

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Well, Russia did not exactly close foreign NGOs. These foreign NGOs were brought under greater scrutiny, especially their activities and funding due to a law that was passed recently by Russia. USAID closing offices is part of that program.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has announced it will close its offices in Russia following an order from the authorities there to cease operations.

The Russian government gave the US until 1 October to close the mission, accusing it of meddling in politics.

USAID has worked in Russia for two decades, spending nearly $3bn (Â£1.8bn) on aid and democratic programmes.

The expulsion follows a government crackdown on pro-democracy groups.

"The decision was taken mainly because the work of the agency's officials far from always responded to the stated goals of development and humanitarian cooperation. We are talking about attempts to influence political processes through its grants," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The Russian authorities have become increasingly suspicious of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), which it believes are using foreign funding to foment political unrest, says the BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Moscow.

Earlier this year, President Vladimir Putin alleged that protests surrounding his re-election were orchestrated by US-funded NGOs.

Well done Russia. It's time to weed United States influence out from all parts of the world where it is unwanted and undesirable. Our own government would do well if they simply expose and expel the US supported protesters at various levels of the Kudankulam project.

Well done Russia. It's time to weed United States influence out from all parts of the world where it is unwanted and undesirable. Our own government would do well if they simply expose and expel the US supported protesters at various levels of the Kudankulam project.